“Yeah. Okay.”
Ira wasn’t used to seeing his friend looking so lost. Yanis had led their small mish-mashed group of shifters when they were in the labs, and even after, when they first got to Gillham. Problem was, Ira didn’t know how to help. He could listen to Yanis if he wanted to talk, but apart from that, he didn’t know. He wasn’t good in these situations, when he had to comfort someone, even if that someone was his best friend.
Ira watched Yanis disappear into Jared’s office and the door close behind him. He shook his head. He couldn’t do anything for Yanis now, so he could go find Darin. It was time. Ira had had enough of waiting.
* * * *
It was ridiculous. Keenan, Nysys, Taylor, Delevan, and Isaiah had formed a line next to the counter as Darin finished frosting the cupcakes. Nysys was first, of course, and he was looking at Darin with puppy eyes, his hands raised in front of him, forming a cup.
“You didn’t have to get in line to get cupcakes,” he pointed out.
“That way we’re sure everyone will get what they deserve,” Delevan said from behind Taylor. Isaiah guffawed, but he didn’t move. Darin sighed good-naturedly.
“Fine.” He put his pastry bag down after frosting the last cupcake, took a pinch of pink colored coconut, and sprinkled it on top of the cupcake. He did that for the entire first row of cupcakes, then put the coconut down and took a cupcake.
Nysys grinned when Darin turned his way and Darin shook his head, an answering smile tugging at the corner of his lips. He gently put the cupcake in Nysys’ hands and Nysys bounced away. Darin rolled his eyes and handed the other cupcakes to the people in line.
He put the others away, making sure to keep two out, and took one of the single portion boxes he kept in the pantry. He was lucky he still had some from Ani’s birthday. He’d have to buy some more if Trevor really wanted to do the cupcake thing, though. Maybe something more romantic than colored balloons. Not hearts—that would be too cheesy.
“Is there one for me?” a deep, melodic voice asked.
Darin looked up, wondering who else was visiting the mansion, and his gaze locked with dark green eyes. Darin swallowed. “Uh, you can take one. Or two.” He opened one of the containers he’d set to the side and pushed it toward the dark-haired man. “Or how many you want.”
“Hey, that’s not fair!” Nysys cried out. “Why do I get only one and he can take how many he wants?”
The man’s mouth curved in a smile that made Darin’s knees buckle. “Because I’m his mate.”
The kitchen was silent for a few seconds, then chaos erupted, Nysys right in the middle of it. Darin heard the noise, the loud voices, but he didn’t pay attention to any of it. He didn’t look away from the man who claimed he was his mate. He still had a smirk on his face as he came toward Darin, stopping close enough they almost touched—almost. There were only a few inches separating them, and Darin desperately wanted to close that distance.
“Darin,” the man said.
“Hi,” Darin croaked. He cleared his throat, then tried again. “Hi.”
Nysys broke the spell when he hopped on the counter. He sat with his legs crossed, looking at Darin and his mate like they were interesting insect specimens. “How come you know his name and that you’re mates but he clearly doesn’t?” he asked Darin’s mate.
Darin narrowed his eyes at Nysys. “Stay out of this.” He looked at his mate. “So? How come you know about me when I don’t even know your name?”
Darin’s mate grinned and held his hand out. It brushed against Darin’s stomach and he sucked in a breath. He swallowed loudly and clasped the hand offered to him. It was warm and dry, with several calluses Darin wanted to feel on the rest of his skin. He shook his head and gave the hand a shake. “I’m Darin.”
“Ira.”
“Oooh!” Nysys exclaimed. Darin looked at him, and Nysys made a show of pressing his lips together, locking them and throwing the key away. Darin knew it would last only a few minutes, and that was only if he was lucky.
“Ira. So, I guess nice to meet you.”
Ira chuckled. “Just nice?”
“For now.” Darin leaned forward. “Can I?”
Ira smiled and tilted his head to the side. He was taller than Darin, so Darin stretched up on his tiptoes. His heart was beating like crazy when he put both hands on Ira’s forearms and used them to balance himself as he leaned close enough to smell Ira.
The scent hit him hard, and he didn’t have to take another sniff to know Ira was right—they were mates. “Wow,” he whispered.
“So, is it true?” Keenan asked, making Darin jump and lose his balance. He tilted forward, and Ira wrapped his arms around Darin’s waist, stopping him from trying to push away. Not that Darin wanted to. His sugar glider was squeaking in excitement, and his human half felt like it was finally home. It felt right. It felt like forever.
“So?” Keenan asked again, and Darin sighed. He put his cheek on Ira’s chest and listened to his mate’s heartbeat as he answered. “Yes, it’s true. He’s my mate.”
Keenan and Nysys squealed in unison, making Darin’s ears hurt. “Omigodomigod! You found your mate!” Keenan yelled. He threw his arms around both Ira and Darin, quickly followed by Nysys.
Darin looked up to see how Ira was taking it. Not everyone liked Nysys and Keenan. They were crazy, and not a normal kind of crazy. Their crazy was a special brand, and it took a bit to get used to.
But Ira was smiling down at him, looking utterly uninterested in the two still-squealing men. Darin smiled back, but the moment became awkward when neither of them moved away, not even when Nysys and Keenan finally let go and started planning god knew what in loud voices.
“So, umm, cupcake?” Darin asked.
“Before or after I take you to bed?”
Darin’s eyes widened of their own will. “W-what?”
“It could be dessert. There’s nothing better than eating sweets after sex. Or maybe I could lick the frosting from your skin.”
Darin opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it again. Nothing came out. He realized the room was silent and looked around. Sure enough, everyone was looking at them, Keenan and Nysys with an identical gleam in their eyes, Taylor looking amused, Trevor blushing like crazy.
“I, uh, shouldn’t we talk before we have sex?” Darin asked, a slight tremble in his voice.
Ira leaned forward, stopping only when their lips brushed against each other. It wasn’t enough to call it a kiss, but they were definitely touching. “Why talk? We’re mates, and we both know what that means.” Every movement of Ira’s lips made them slide against Darin’s.
He shivered and tried to think about a good reason why he should say no, but nothing came to mind. “Uh-huh.”
Ira’s lips curled against Darin’s. “So, what do you think? Bed?”
Darin started to nod, but someone clasped his shoulder, jarring him out of his Ira-induced stupor. “I think you should let Darin think about it,” Taylor said, gently pulling Darin away from Ira’s arms.
Darin let his best friend maneuver him away from his mate. He needed the time to think, he really did. Ira didn’t protest, even if Darin had expected him to. His gaze never left Darin, though, and it made Darin want to squirm.
He cleared his throat instead and offered the container of cupcakes to Ira again. “I think you’d better eat one now if you really want it. There won’t be any left by the time we’re done. Not that we’re going to have sex. Not yet anyway. Umm, right.”
Taylor chuckled and patted Darin’s back. “Are you going to be okay to talk to Ira on your own, or do I have to be there to keep the two of you out of bed?”
“I think I can manage.”
“Right.”
Taylor didn’t sound convinced, and Darin scowled at him. “Do I have to remind you who mated with his mate the same evening he met him, then let him run away without even asking for his full name?”
Taylor
raised his hands in surrender. “Calm down, Fury. I just wanted to be sure you knew what you were doing, but by all means, go have sex with your mate.”
“That’s not—I never said we were going to have sex!” Darin protested.
“Are you sure of that?” Ira purred.
Darin felt his cheeks heat. “I am.”
“Mmm, I’m sure I can convince you.”
Darin grabbed a cupcake and stuffed it in Ira’s mouth.
* * * *
Ira sputtered in the frosting and grabbed the cupcake from Darin’s fingers. Darin let go, a brow arched, and Ira knew his mate thought he’d gotten him. Oh, how wrong he was.
Ira pulled the cupcake away. He could feel the frosting coating his lips and he smiled. He ran his tongue over his upper lip, then the lower one, slowly, and hopefully seductively as well. Darin’s eyes went a bit dazed and his gaze never left Ira’s tongue, at least not until the big guy who’d tried to convince Darin to slow down hit Darin on the back of the head.
“Jeesh, are you that sex deprived? I know I should take you out more often and get you laid, but still.”
Ira flashed to his half-shifted form without even thinking about it. He hissed at the man and the man’s eyes widened, a hint of fear and maybe repulsion in his eyes. He raised his hands and took a step away from Darin. “Sorry, man. I didn’t mean it like that. I was just joking around.”
Ira gave him a curt nod and took a deep breath. Showing his mate his hissy half hadn’t been in his plans, at least not yet, and he wasn’t surprised to see shock and fear in Darin’s eyes. Ira took a step backward and tried to calm himself, but the suggestion that Darin might sleep with other men still churned in his mind.
Ira realized he still had the cupcake in hand. It wasn’t eatable now—he’d tightened his hand around it during his tantrum. He opened his hand over the sink and let the crumbles fall in it. He cleaned it up, making sure he didn’t look at Darin while he did it, then he washed his hands.
He could hear the whispers, but he looked around the room only when he was done cleaning up. He met everyone’s gaze, a challenge in his eyes. A blushing man looked down right away, and another looked ready to beat Ira to a pulp. Darin’s friend looked uncomfortable, Darin... well, Ira didn’t know how Darin looked.
He didn’t look as happy and dazed as he’d been until then, but he didn’t look like he wanted to run away, either. He smiled timidly at Ira and plucked another cupcake from the container. He handed it to Ira this time, and Ira took it. Their fingers brushed against each other and Darin’s smile grew.
“That was wicked!” the guy with the pink hair exclaimed. He came to stand in front of Ira and leaned forward until only a few inches separated them. “Do it again.”
“I don’t think so.”
The guy with pink hair leaned away. “Why not?”
“Because I don’t want my mate to run for the hills.”
The guy pouted for all of two seconds, then stuck his hand out. “I’m Nysys.”
“Ira. You’re not scared of me.”
Nysys took his hand back. “Why should I be?”
“Because half-shifting isn’t something most shifters can do.”
Nysys shrugged and took the cupcake from Ira’s hand. He carefully unpeeled the liner and gave it a bite. “So?” he asked after swallowing. “I’ve seen enough weird stuff to know that different doesn’t mean bad.”
“That’s not something most people think.”
Nysys looked around. “Then they should remember where they live and who they’re friends with. Seriously, if they think you’re bad just because you can sprout fangs and get wicked eyes in your human form, then they shouldn’t live here. We even have a wendigo, for fuck’s sake! If they’re not afraid of him, they shouldn’t be afraid of you. Not until you go crazy and start killing people, anyway.”
Darin handed Ira yet another cupcake, and this time Ira peeled the liner away and gave it a bite before anyone could steal it—or before he could somehow ruin it. He closed his eyes and hummed in pleasure. “This is... it’s good. Very good.”
Darin smiled. “Thank you.”
“Well, it’s his job, you know,” Nysys pointed out, licking frosting from his fingers.
“I know, but I hadn’t tasted anything he baked before.”
Nysys sucked on his finger and let it out with a pop. He looked around and frowned. “Why are you still all here? Still gawking at Ira?”
“Honestly, we were waiting to see if we could steal other cupcakes,” a blond guy said, grinning.
Nysys waved everyone away. “Go, go. Keenan, you can stay, and Trevor, take your little box of love and go leave it on your guy’s porch. No message, though, not yet. Let him think about who it could be. He needs to work for it.”
The blushing guy—and he was still slightly red—took a box with colorful balloons on it and hurried away. The big guy who probably was a friend of Darin’s rolled his eyes and leaned against the counter with his arms crossed on his chest. He was obviously going nowhere.
Nysys looked at him, but dismissed him with a shrug. He hopped on the counter again and the blond guy—Keenan—hopped up next to him. They both sat there, staring at Ira as if waiting to see if he was going to half-shift again.
“You know,” Keenan said, “I don’t get why shifters should be afraid of you because you half-shift. Isn’t that what they do when they mate?”
“But that’s the only time we do it. I’ve never seen anyone who can shift like that,” Big Guy said.
“So what? I’d never seen anyone shift before Jamie met Ward. Doesn’t mean I was scared of him.”
“That’s because you’re crazy.”
Nysys snorted and Keenan made an indignant noise. “Crazy? I’m going to sic Jonah on you, Taylor. You just wait and see.”
“I’m quaking in my boots.”
Keenan started to jump off the counter, but Nysys stopped him with a hand on his stomach. “Down, boy.”
To Ira’s surprise, Keenan actually stayed on the counter. He still scowled at Taylor, but that was all.
Then both he and Nysys turned to look at Ira, and Ira knew it would’ve been better for him if they’d stayed concentrated on Taylor. “So, what are your intentions?” Nysys asked.
“Intentions?” Ira asked as Darin groaned.
“Guys, I don’t need you to read him the riot act. I’m sure Shad will do a grand job with that anyway,” Darin said.
“Hey, we’re friends. That’s what friends do.”
“I don’t remember any of us threatening Morin before you two mated.”
“That’s because I didn’t actually bring him home before we did.”
“Right.”
“Does that means that you won’t... threaten me if me and Darin mate right now?” Ira asked.
Darin’s eyes widened but Nysys just grinned. “It’d be too late if you did, right?”
Ira eyed Darin, wondering if his mate would be up for it. Darin shook his head, reached out for Ira’s hand, and tugged him toward the door. “We’re going.” Nysys made a strangled sound, so Darin added, “To talk. Just talk.”
Ira winked at Nysys. “For now.”
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Taylor yelled.
“We’re not going to mate right now,” Darin yelled back just before the kitchen door closed behind them.
They were still for a few moments, then Darin pulled Ira along the hallway, up the stairs, and along another hallway. He was walking fast, not quite running, but almost, and as soon as they entered what had to be Darin’s bedroom and he closed the door, Ira asked, “Why in a hurry?”
Darin let Ira’s hand go. “I didn’t want my brother to meet you just yet.”
“Aaah, your twin.”
Darin flopped on the bed and cocked his head. “You know about Shad?”
“Not much.”
“Okay, what’s up with that? You obviously know about
me, and you knew we’re mates, but I’m sure I’ve never seen you before.”
Ira leaned against the wall, not knowing whether he’d be welcome on the bed next to Darin. “I drove a friend here a few months ago, to see if he was Adan’s mate. I was wandering in the house while he went to the infirmary, and I walked into the kitchen. Wes was there, and he’d apparently just hugged you, because he smelled like you. I smelled it, and I wanted to know a bit more about it before meeting you.”
“Why? Why didn’t you come find me right away?” Darin didn’t look angry, just curious.
“I never had the best relationships, and I’m not talking only about lovers. I’ve learned to never trust anyone.”
“And you didn’t know if you could trust me.”
“Yes. I’m sorry.”
Darin shrugged. “You don’t have to be. I get it. I don’t trust easily either.”
“Okay.”
“So what did you find? When you gathered info about me?”
“Good things.”
Darin smiled. “Do you think you can trust me, then?”
Chapter Two
Darin waited for Ira to answer. He didn’t actually expect Ira to say yes, so when Ira nodded, his eyes went wide. “Really?”
Ira stayed where he was against the wall and nodded again. “Nothing I found makes me think I can’t trust you.”
“But from there to actually trusting me, it’s a big step.”
“It is. But there are people I do trust completely.”
Darin arched a brow. “You can’t tell me I’m one of those. Not yet.”
“Okay, you’re not.”
Darin chuckled. “Are you just saying what you think I want to hear? Because I do understand why you don’t trust me yet, you know. I don’t know about your past, but mine wasn’t the easiest either.”
“I know. The labs.”
Darin Page 2
